Cooling-room



2 Sheets-*Sheet 1. P. J. DAEMICKE. y

GOOLlNG ROOM.

Patented'MaJy 9, 1893,.

No Modem 2 Slheets-Sheet 2.

P. J. DAEMICKE.

GOULING ROOM. No` 496,867 Patented May 9,1893.

` UNITEBsSTATEssPATENT OFFICE.

PAUL J. DAEMICKE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

COOLING-ROOM.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent N0. 496.8167, dated v:May 9, 1893. Y Application led December 5, 1892. SerialNo. 454,139. (No modelJ To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, PAUL J. DAEMICKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cooling-Rooms, which are fully set forth in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

forming a part thereof.

In the drawings z-Figu re l is a section from front to rear through my improved cooling room or refrigerator. Fig. 2 is afront elevation on a reduced scale. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional plan of a drip pan, which serves as a valve to control the circulation of cold air from the ice-chamber into'the main cooling chamber, and devices for operating it, the walls of the refrigerator being shown in horizontal section at the line 3-3 on Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail vertical section from front to rear through one of the drip pans and adjacent parts and mechanism for operating it. Fig. 5 is a sectionat the line 5.5 on Fig. 4, showing, in'elevation, a device for preventing the splashing-of water and permittingthe circulation of air over the drip pan.

Myimproved cooling room embodies, in connection with other features, the combination of the main cooling chamber and an exhibit chamber or show-case, and tanks cooled by the main cooling chamber, butaccessible without opening the main chamber, and having no air communication with the latter, such tanks being designed and adapted for stor-v age of substances which it is necessary to separate from each other and from the other substances in the coolingchamber to prevent the transmission of odors and flavors from such substances as sh and vegetables, which will taint such other substancesas dairy products and the like, to the latter class of products which are liable to receive taint not only from the former, but from fresh meats in the cooling chamber also.

A is the main ice chamber.

B is the main cooling chamber. A

C is the exhibit chamber which is lin front of the main cooling chamber and extends up.

the lower forward part of the main chamber but do not communicate therewith, but are accessible through the front of the refrigerator by independent doors.

The main ice chamber has the usual ice .rack composed of bars A A', &c., and the ice fenders A2 A2 at the sides, the bars A being supported upon joists A10, extending from front to rear, andthe fenders A2 being securred to studding posts A20 in the customary manner, so that vthere is opportunity for the free circulation of the air odi' the ice between the studding and between the bars A and the supporting joists A10 downward. Below the joists ATO, there is located the horizontal partition which separatesthe ice chamber from the cooling chamber, consisting of a fixed portion B', constitutinga water shed which .extends longitudinally midway from front to rear in the width ofthe chamber, and two drip pans B2 B2, hinged to the front -and rear walls respectively of the cooling chamber, and having their proximate vibrating edges overhung by the edges respectively of the Water-'shed B. The air off the ice, de-

scending by the avenue described, can pass into the cooling chamber only by passing over the surfaces of the drip pans, and over' the upper edges of the proximate sides of the latter between said edges and the overhanging edges of the water-shed. Drip pans B2, being hinged and adjustable at their'vibrating edges toward and from the overhanging edges of the Water-shed, may be considered as valves to open and close the air passage from the ice chamber to the cooling chamber. In order that the circulation may be uniform throughout the chamber and entirely under control, it is desirable that the air opening thus controlled should be uniform through'- out the chamber, and,in order that it may be .thus uniform and easily regulated, I operate all the drip pans or valves B2 B2 from one point by means of a train of horizontal shafts geared together,y from which the vibrating edges of the dri p pans, respectively, are suspended, and by Whose rotation said vibrating edges are raised and lowered by the suspending connections, said connections being in the form illustrated and preferably, flexible bands wound upon the shafts.-

E E are two longitudinal shafts located under the water shed, inward respectively from the inner vibrating edges of kthe drip pans and parallel thereto.

E is a transverse'shat't which is connected by miter gears e' e', &c.,`to the two longitudinal shafts. One of the longitudinal shafts to this windlass-like construction, might be substituted Without departing from my invention. The water which drains from the ice will be received in the drip pans, and the air which passes from the .icechamber into the cooling chamber must pass over the cold upper surfaces of the ventilated double bottom drip pans to enter'the cooling chamber. Any suitable means of drainage for the pans may be provided, and as this is not a part of myinvention, it is notillustrated. It is found in actual practice that the drops of water falling from the ice onto the sloping drip pans are spattered or broken into a spray or splash of which a considerable part escapes through the cold air passage intoV the cooling room, producingan injurious moisture therein. To prevent this, and, at the same time, not to prevent the free passage of air as desired, I provide, depending from the edges of the watershed B, the metal curtains G G', which are double, consisting of'two metal sheets G and G respectively, with an interspace between them which is securedV by holding the lower edges of the curtains spread by means of stiff straps G2 G2 at intervals along the length of the curtain edges. These curtains G and G are ap-` ertured at g and g', respectively, said apertures being out of line transversely with respect tothe lengthof the curtains, sothat no aperture gis directly opposite an aperture g. This prevents water from splashing through the double curtain, since if it splashes through an aperture g, it will not strike an aperture g but will strike the surface of the curtain G', and fall back into the pan. The air, nevertheless, can pass freely through the apert'ures g into the inter-space g2, and thence through the apertures g', and thence into the cooling chamber. It is not desirable that ythe lower edges of thecurtain should touch throughout its length upon the bottom of the drip pans, because, if it should do so, sawdust and other sediment from the melted ice would be dammed up against it and obstruct the waterland tosome extent limit the passage of'air. I therefore make the straps G2 .serve as feet to hold up the edges of the curtain from the bottom 'of the pan, leaving a rift under the edge of the curtain interruptedl teaser shed, and B10, the lower wall; b2, the upper wall or lining of the drip pans, and B20 the lower wall.

b10 is an air interspace between the walls of the water-shed, and Z120, the air-interspace between the walls'of the drip pan. The two walls are held apart by suitable transverse ribs which need no explanation. Theinterspace 620 in the drip pan opens at the hinged edge which is back of the vertical plane of the side-fenders of the ice-chamber, and therefore, beyond any point from which water can drip, but in suitable position to permit the cold air descending along the sides of the ice chamber to enter the inter-space.b20. The inner side of the drip pa'n has the apertures b21 to permit the cold air which enters the inter-space to pass into the cooling room, thus affording completeair'circnlation under the metal-b2.

The exhibit chamber C is separated from the cooling chamber B by a plate C', which constitutes a meat rack- -that is, serves as the support for the brackets or hooks or bars, or all of such devices, on which the joints of meat or other articlesl are ysuspended for exhibition. This meat rack-C', or partition wall, is suitably supported on the uprights C2, to which the joists A10 under the ice rack are secured, and it is provided with windows,that is to say, openings closed by glass plates C10, through which light is admitted into the cooling room B. This meat rack or partition wall does not extend downto the bottom lof the cooling room, but stops short a f not closing its bottom, but permitting free circulation of air from the bottom of the cooling chamber upward through the exhibit chamber.

than the top of the cooling chamber B, the

upper portion c', lapping in front of thefice chamber A. l But, whereas this partition con- The partition of which the meatl rack C' forms the lower part extends u p higher IOC I of;

IIO

stitutes the only separating wall between the cooling chamber B and the'exhibit chamber C, so `that the latter is cooled by conduction through that wallfrom the former, it is not the only intervening wall between the .ice-

vchamber andthe upper part of the exhibit chamber, but, on the contrary,'the forward wall of the ice-chamber, represented at A3, and extending down below the joists A far enough to constitute the support for the hinges of the front drippan, is located a little distance rearward of the upper portion c of the partition wall, leaving between the two an air space c2, which opens at the lower end into the cooling chamber B, and at the upper end has free communication with the top of 'the' ice chamber A. This space c2 is one of the avenues for the return of the air upward from the cooling chamber B into the ice cham- .ber A, as shown by the arrows, but -in order to gain the advantage of cooled air directly off the ice to cool the exhibit chamber, I provide the air duct C4, extending from the ice chamber across the air space c?, and through the partition c into the upper portion of the exhibit chamber. This duct maybe provided with a slide or gate c4, which may be opened more or less vto control the passage of cold air from the ice chamber or prevent it altogether.

The circulation of air between the ice chamber A and the cooling chamber B, as indicated by the arrows, is that cold air descends from the ice chamber and over the surface of the drip pan, passing through the splash curtains, and then through the aperture between the edges of the pans and the overhanging edges of the water-shed, descending then down through the middle portion of the cooling chamber B, to the bottom thereof, and rising chieiiy toward the sides as it is somewhat warmed by the contents of the chamber, passing up through the air-spaces c2 at the front and a corresponding air space 02 at the rear, and entering the ice chamber at the top, and being again cooled, and so repeating the circulation. The circulation in the ex- `hibit chamber is also indicated by the arrows,

` Ythe air entering the bottom of the exhibit chamber; and Awhen the gate c4 is open, cold air from the lower part of the ice chamber will pass through the duct C4 over into the upper part of the exhibit chamber', and down through the latter chieti y on the rear side, the rising current which enters at the bottom, and also the air returning from .the said descending current, passing up at the forward side. It may be desirable to provide, and a part of my invention consists in providing, a supplemental ice chamber orl chamber containing cooling mixtures of any sort at the upper part or above `the exhibit chamber proper, as shown at O. This chamber, when provided, will have the ordinary form of anice chamber, the cold air passing down from it through a drip pan at the bottom of it, upstanding air ducts O being provided to permit such downward passage of the air into the exhibit chamber. The forward wall O2 of the supplemental ice chamber is separated-from the forward wall of the refrigerator by an air space o2, through which the rising current of air out of the exhibit chamber passes to enter the upper end of the ice chamber A, and the upper end of the supplemental .chamber O. The air circulation in the exhibit chamber is not affected particularly by the presence of this supplemental ice chamber, the only oflice of said supplemental chamber being to assistin cooling the exhibit chamber, and to do so with less waste ber were necessarily and at all times cooled from the main ice chamber.

Tanks D are made of sheet metal and are located in the portion of the main cooling chamber B which extends underneath the exhibit chamber C, the front wall of the refrigerator having the apertures m closed by the doors M, which areof the usual insulating construction, having double walls and an inter-space filled with non-conducting material, and the tanks D have apertures through the forward sideat the upper part and are flanged about 'such apertures, said apertures registering with the apertures m, so that when the tank is secured :to the inner wall of the refrigerator at the margins of the apertures in the refrigerator walls, respectively, there is no air communication between the main cooling chamber B and the interior of the tanks D, but said tanks are cooled by conduction through their metal walls and access is obtained into them through the doors M without permitting the escape of cold air from or access of warm air to the cooling chamber.

A convenient construction, mechanically, for

the tanks, is that illustrated, wherein the metal is flanged at D', such ange projecting forward, adapted to match the aperture m in the refrigerator wall, and the flange being bound by an angle iron band D2, having one ofits lips riveted to 'the flange and the other lip adapted to be secured to the inner plate of the refrigerator wall, the thumb screws D20, serving to eect such attachment in a manner which permits the easy detachment of the'tank when occasion requires.

It is a matter of convenience that the meat racks of the bars C?, which are adapted to be hung on the brackets C50 of the partition meat rack C', are of suitablelength to be hung also in the main cooling chamber B, so that they may be transferred bodily from the cooling chamber to the exhibit chamber.

The exhibit chamber, as will be understood construction were such that the exhibit cham- IIS 4' V y v 496,867

from its name, is accessible through the front, which is provided. with glazed doors C6 C, through which the contents of the exhibit chamber can beseen without opening the doors.

l I claimf 1. Tn a refrigerator, in combination with the ice chamber and the cooling chamber underneath it, the .water-shed between the two chambers; the shafts extending thereunder;

. the hinged drip pans suspended at one edge from the shafts and adapted to be raised and lowered by the rotation of the latter and overvhung by-the water-shed: substantially as set,

the ice chamber and the cooling chamber andA the lwater-shed between them, the longitudilnal and transverse 4shafts under the watershed and miter gears which connect the-shafts in train; drip pans hinged at one edge and having the opposite edge overhnng by the water-shed and suspended from the, shafts; a.

worm gear on'one lof said shafts and a suitl able worm to operate it, whereby all the shafts are rotated to adjust all the pans simultay neously: substantially as set forth.

4. In combination with the water-shed and the drip pans having their lower edges overhung by the water-shed, the double curtains depending from the water-shed into the drip pans,said'curtains having mismatched apertures to permit air circulation and-to prevent the water splashing through them: substanv tially as set forth.

5. In combination withthe water-shed and the drip pan overhung thereby, the double curtains and the straps which hold them apart at their lower edges, said straps being adapted to operate to serve as feet projecting from the edges of the curtains and resting upon the bottoms of the pans to hold the curtain edges up off the latter: substantially as set forth.

6. In a refrigerator, in combination with the main ice chamber and the4 main cooling room underneath it, asupplemental vcooling room extending in front of both the main ice chamber and cooling chamber and' separated from the cooling chamberonly by a single partition, and separated from theice chamber by a double wall with an inter-space, and provided with a duct leading into it at the rear` across said inter-space from the lower part of the ice chamber; said exhibit chamber being obstructed at the upper part above said duct from the rear wall to a point near the front wall and provided with an air passage upward along the front only communicating with the top of the ice-chamber, to cause the air from the ice chamber to descend along the rear and permit the return current to rise along the front of the exhibit chamber: substantially as set forth.

7. In a refrigerator, in combination, sub

-stantially as set forth, the main ice chamber A, the main cooling chamber B, the exhibit chamber C, the supplemental ice chamber O, the chamber B and vthe exhibit chamber C communicating at the bottom and the partition between them being single, whereby the exhibit chamber is cooled by conduction from the maincooling chamber; a return passage for air being provided from the upper part ofthe exhibit chamber at the forward side only to the top ofthe ice chamber: substantially as set forth.

I n testimony whereof lI have hereunto set` my hand, at Chicago, Illinois, in the presence of two witnesses, this 19th day of November,

r PAUL J. DAEMICKE.

Witnesses:

CHAs. S. BURTON, JEAN ELLIOTT. 

